Google Blogger gives itself a touch-up with template designer

The company has launched Blogger Template Designer, which gives users a lot more freedom to design the look and feel of their Google-hosted blogs. Users can change colors, titles, background images from hundreds of stock photos and there’s a drag-and-drop interface to shuffle pieces of the layout. There are 15 templates to start with and custom blog layouts with one, two or three columns.

“Blogging is about self expression and that an important part of expression is creating a custom design that expresses your unique voice,” said the company in a statement.

It’s a much-needed overhaul for the service, which attracts 300 million readers a month. Younger upstarts in the microblogging space like Union Square Ventures-backed Tumblr gained traction in part they’ve focus on elegant design.